SEATTLE -- Back in the mid-'80s, when Gerard Schwarz was new to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, he sometimes found himself "having to convince people there was a need for an orchestra here at all."

But on Wednesday, as Schwarz announced he will leave his position as the orchestra's music director when his contract expires in 2011, the New Jersey native said that it's now hard to think of a better environment for classical music than Seattle.

"I can't imagine any conductor not wanting to come here," Schwarz said, although he added that he is "looking forward to a break from administrative responsibilities."

Sometimes controversial, often inspirational, Schwarz, 61, is among the longest-tenured musical directors in America and has been a towering figure on the Seattle arts scene during a period of unprecedented growth. Hired as the orchestra's music adviser in 1983, he was appointed principal conductor the following year and has been music director since 1985.

Schwarz will still conduct the Seattle orchestra several weeks a year, with the title of conductor laureate. He and his wife, Judy, will also continue to live in Seattle. But he will have more time for composing and guest conducting. In November, he will travel to Croatia to conduct "Rudolph and Jeanette," a piece Schwarz composed and named for his maternal grandparents, who were killed in a concentration camp in Latvia in 1941.

Schwarz was raised in Weehawken, his Viennese father eventually running the hospital where his son was born. He started trumpet lessons at age 8, eventually graduating from New York's High School of Performing Arts and the Juilliard School. He became the principal trumpeter of the New York Philharmonic in his early 20s and began conducting early on.

Schwarz kept close ties to the East Coast, leading Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival from 1982 to 2001. He has also regularly returned to the Garden State, touring with the Seattle Symphony and often guest conducting the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, most recently in 2006.

From 2001 to 2006, Schwarz was the principal conductor of the U.K.'s Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. It was a relatively short, stormy tenure, and he left after ructions over the orchestra's future direction.

In Seattle, Schwarz transformed the orchestra. Its subscription audience has grown from 5,000 to 35,000, the annual budget rising from $5 million to $22 million. The orchestra has made 125 recordings under his baton, including many important sets of American music. Last year, the orchestra won an Emmy for its TV special "Seattle Symphony from Benaroya Hall."

"There will never be another Gerry Schwarz," said Susan Hutchison, chair of the orchestra's board of directors. "He's got the artistic talent, the creative energy and he's always coming up with new fantastic ideas."

But Schwarz's relationships with Seattle musicians weren't always smooth. Some players were displeased when his contract was extended in 2006, and there has been speculation they would oppose a further extension.

"Every orchestra, every business, always has some employees who are unhappy -- it's life," Schwarz said. "I consider those kinds of internal frictions to be normal. They had nothing to do with my decision."

Among the sources of controversy, Schwarz's professional break with longtime concertmaster Ilkka Talvi in 2004 turned nasty when Talvi attacked Schwarz publicly on a blog. The incident was ultimately resolved through mediation.

The subsequent hunt for a replacement concertmaster -- an important leadership position in any orchestra -- was drawn out for three years, and only temporarily resolved when Schwarz decided to install four concertmasters on a rotating schedule. The plan didn't pass muster with the players' union. Earlier this year, Maria Larionoff was named sole concertmaster.

Clark Story, a violinist with the orchestra for 30 years, said Schwarz's departure "is long overdue. Musicians will be looking forward to some fresh musical ideas."

But longtime flutist Scott Goff said that while he understands Schwarz has critics, "an orchestra is a difficult work situation. Everybody's got a boss. And bosses are tough to work for, especially good ones ... He's the best musician I've ever worked with."

Larionoff said musicians gave Schwarz a prolonged ovation following his brief announcement at a recording session Wednesday, a moment she characterized as "bittersweet."